5 Divided by What Equals 31?
Methods
Setting up the problem:
In a problem like this, the “what” means that we’re working with a variable. The most common variable used in math is “x”. So we could say what number, x can we divide 5 by to equal 31?
Solving 5 Divided by What Equals 31
Here’s how you would set up this question as an equation:
5
x
=
31
\frac{5}{x} = 31
x 5 = 31
The goal of the problem is to solve for x. To do this we need to change the equation so that x is alone on one side of the equation.In this case, it can be done in two steps. The first step is to multiply both sides by x to isolate 5:
5
=
31
∗
x
5 = 31*x
5 = 31 ∗ x
Then we can isolate x on the right side of the equation by dividing both sides by 31:
5
31
=
x
\frac{5}{31} = x
31 5 = x
When we simplify the new equation, we can solve for x. In this example, we will round to the nearest three decimal places if that’s needed.
x
=
0.161
x = 0.161
x = 0.161
Practice Other Division Problems Like This One
If this problem was a little difficult or you want to practice your skills on another one, give it a go on any one of these too!
What divided by 67 equals 86?
96 divided by what equals 41?
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What is 15/8 divided by 13/9?
What is 98 divided by 16/10?